Five killed in Russian market blast

Five people were killed and about 30 injured in a bomb blast at an outdoor market in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan, officials said.

Explosions at markets have become common in Russia in recent years.

Officials usually blame them on business disputes or on terrorists from Chechnya, where Russia is fighting separatists.

The most recent such explosion was on July 26 in Ryazan, when four people were injured.

Astrakhan is about 850 miles south-east of Moscow, on the delta where the Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea.